 |
| Partial ingredients |
I've brewed hefes before...or rather, in some cases I've attempted a hefe (here, here, and here). The big take-away so far is, don't use the WB-06 if you're looking for a good solid hefe yeast...definitely go liquid. I've tried Jasper's stuff, and I wanted to try something else, as well. The folks down at Jay's have the White Labs Pure Pitch in stock, so I thought I'd give that a shot. I wanted to try a hefe using the LemonDrop hops I got from Nicobrew, using the first wort hopping technique. I'm hoping that with a lower alpha acid percentage than the German Perle, a bit more of the hops won't be too much bittering.
Brew Day: 3 Feb 2016
Partial Mash:
12 oz Pilsner malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
I followed my usual partial mash process.
Boil (60 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
7 g LemonDrop hops (AA: 4.4%) (FWH)
Yeast: WLP300 Pure Pitch
I followed my usual process for cooling the wort and pitching the yeast.
Addendum, 4 Feb: A LOT of activity within the first 12 hrs of fermentation! So much so that I had to swap out the blow-off bottle. Things are going pretty well, although I am going to have to move the fermenter and do some clean up...and people laughed at me when I said I was putting my fermenters in a bathtub! ;-)
Addendum, 5 Feb: Fermentation appears to have settled down quite a bit. I'll very likely remove the blow-off tube and add an airlock later today or tomorrow.
Addendum, 15 Feb: Bottled today. Got two 22 oz bottles and 6 12 oz bottles. Smelled really good during bottling, but it was also really clear. We'll see if this one finishes with the cloudiness associated with the style.
Addendum, 29 Feb: First taste. Poured a golden straw yellow color, billowy non-persistent head. Light citrusy-clean taste, no bitterness, no bitter aftertaste. Very clean, slightly reminiscent of a fruity cleanness, very easy drinking. Carbonation is good. Definitely a keeper.
Addendum, 18 Apr: Opened one of the 22 oz flip top bottles tonight, and went through that one pretty quickly. Today's high was 81 deg F and I had cleaned the truck tonight, so I was thirsty. I had a regular 12 oz bottle with dinner, and the head was pretty smooth and creamy. Right after pouring the beer and for the first couple of sips, I got a good whiff of banana, but after a few minutes, it tapered off. The beer was still very enjoyable, smooth and light, with the right body.
Curious for more explanation on the WB-06. I just brewed a hefe last Saturday and used WB-06 for the first time.
ReplyDeleteCraig,
ReplyDeleteI'd used the WB-06 before, and didn't get the hefe-like results I was looking for. I'd done some reading that suggested that if I moved the beer into secondary, off of the trube, after about a week of active fermentation, that the results would be better. I didn't get that.
Again, the WB-06 seems to be a good wheat beer yeast, but not so much for a hefe. Interestingly enough, the Belgian golden ale I did (the first one) with T-58 yeast turned out REALLY well, and I get a nose full of banana when I pour it into a glass.
It is just what I was looking for and quite thorough as well. Thanks for posting this, awriter.org I saw a couple other similar posts but yours was the best so far. The ideas are strongly pointed out and clearly emphasized.
ReplyDelete